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en-USHow to Apply to Lots of Colleges Without Going Brokehttp://www.wisebread.com/how-to-apply-to-lots-of-colleges-without-going-broke
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<p>The cost of college is a major expense for any family pursuing higher education, but it's important to note that the money suck begins way before the first tuition bill. It starts with the college-bound teenager's application process, and it can put a sizable dent in your overall budget if the student is casting a wide net. You can defray this expense, however, with these money-saving tips that make the college-application process more affordable. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/the-encouraging-truth-about-how-americans-are-covering-the-cost-of-college?ref=seealso" target="_blank">The Encouraging Truth About How Americans Are Covering the Cost of College</a>)</p>
<h2>Consult a guidance counselor for advice before beginning the process</h2>
<p>Your best resource for navigating the college-selection and application process is your student's guidance counselor. College admissions is a huge part of their job, and they have plenty of tips and tricks on how to get through it in a cost-efficient manner.</p>
<h2>Narrow down your choices</h2>
<p>Apply to fewer schools to save more money. Jason Patel, founder of college-prep company Transizion suggests applying to two reach schools, at least three target schools, and three safety schools to keep the total application fees low. If you've researched these choices well enough to determine that your student is a good fit, you shouldn't have to apply to any more than that. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/how-college-applicants-can-tour-scores-of-campuses-for-15-or-less?ref=seealso" target="_blank">How College Applicants Can Tour Scores of Campuses for $15 or Less</a>)</p>
<h2>Plan ahead to avoid errors and last-minute panic</h2>
<p>College applications are more affordable when you plan early.</p>
<p>&quot;Good planning leads to good decisions, says Patel. &quot;Most counselors and professionals recommend that students apply to five to eight colleges, so this means these five to eight colleges should be chosen early. Late discoveries lead to errors in the application and an eventual spreadsheet approach that forces students to apply to 15 colleges they're not sure of.&quot;</p>
<h2>Search for no-fee colleges and universities</h2>
<p>This'll make your wallet happy: There are no-fee colleges and universities out there (good ones, too), and you can find the best of the best on this ranking of the <a href="https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/colleges-with-no-application-fee/" target="_blank">2018 Best Colleges with No Application Fee</a> in America. That doesn't mean you should whittle down your choices to only these schools, however. Talk with your student about his or her goals and what they want from the college experience, and also be realistic about the schools by which your child has a chance of being accepted. If some of the no-fee colleges fit onto that list, great. If not, put them out of your mind and move on. Having your child choose a college they don't necessarily want to go to will cost you much more than that waived application fee if they want to transfer a year later.</p>
<h2>Apply for fee waivers</h2>
<p>Fee waivers are available for low-income families. For instance, students who qualify for free or reduced lunch can have their application fees waived at most colleges. Some students also can take the SAT or SAT Subject Tests using a test-fee waiver that will let them <a href="https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/about/benefits/college-application-fee-waivers" target="_blank">apply to more than 2,000 colleges for free</a>.</p>
<h2>Apply during fee-free weeks</h2>
<p>Some schools offer fee-free application weeks, which is generally available statewide in participating states. Some North Carolina colleges and universities waive their application fees during the second week of November, while their Minnesota counterparts waive for one week in late October. If you know in which state you're student is applying, search online to see if it has a no-fee week to offer before submitting. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/12-surprising-ways-to-get-more-college-financial-aid?ref=seealso" target="_blank">12 Surprising Ways to Get More College Financial Aid</a>)</p>
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<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/mikey-rox">Mikey Rox</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-apply-to-lots-of-colleges-without-going-broke">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-2">
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</div> </div><br/></br>BudgetingEducation & Trainingapplying to collegecollegecollege applicationscontinuing educationgraduationhow to afford collegeFri, 26 Jan 2018 09:30:10 +0000Mikey Rox2093194 at http://www.wisebread.com7 Things to Consider Before Paying for an MBAhttp://www.wisebread.com/7-things-to-consider-before-paying-for-an-mba
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<p>A Master's in Business Administration can add millions of dollars to your lifetime income. According to Financial Times, alumni from the highest-rated MBA programs earned an average $142,000 just three years after completing their degrees &mdash; more than double the salary of their pre-MBA careers.</p>
<p>While the potential of earning a better income is surely enticing, there are several factors to consider before committing to a graduate business degree. MBA programs aren't cheap, after all. Let's break down key criteria to decide if an MBA is a worthwhile pursuit.</p>
<h2>1. GMAT test</h2>
<p>Just like you need an SAT score to be admitted to undergraduate college, you need a Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score to pursue an MBA. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council, nearly nine out of 10 new enrollments at the top 50 U.S. full-time MBA programs were made using a GMAT score.</p>
<p>Depending on your target business schools, you may have to achieve a minimum score on this test. Getting to that minimum score is going to cost you prep time and money. At the very least, you'll need to cover the $250 test fee, but you may also have to pay for test prep services or additional materials that can bring up your total GMAT costs to thousands of dollars. Taking a free diagnostic exam from <a href="https://www.mba.com/us/the-gmat-exam/prepare-for-the-gmat-exam/test-prep-materials/free-gmat-prep-software.aspx" target="_blank">MBA.com</a> can help you determine how close you are to the required minimum score (if any) and what you need to do to achieve that score.</p>
<h2>2. Type of MBA</h2>
<p>To better meet the needs of its students, most business schools offer part-time, full-time, and executive versions of a business graduate program. While the full-time program allows you to fully immerse yourself in the MBA experience, a part-time program enables you to keep your current job and minimize student loans. An executive MBA (or EMBA) requires applicants to have several years of work experience, which will vary depending on the school. EMBA students typically have to attend classes on weekends.</p>
<p>However, some schools offer additional types of MBA programs. For example, the Shidler College of Business in Hawaii offers a Global MBA with a China focus in which you complete an eight-month study abroad period at a partner school in China.</p>
<h2>3. Work experience</h2>
<p>Business schools vary widely in the amount of work experience they require from applicants. Still, 89 percent of full-time MBA students have an average 4.3 years of work experience, according to U.S. News &amp; World Report. For part-time and executive degree students, average work experience is even longer at 6.4 and 13.3 years, respectively.</p>
<p>This doesn't mean that pursuing an MBA fresh off completing your undergraduate degree isn't possible. It just means that you may be limiting your options by applying to a business school too early. Keep in mind that taking the GMAT fresh out of undergrad is often a good idea, while your study habits are still intact, because your score will be valid for the next five years. Adding some years of relevant professional experience to your resume will strengthen your MBA application.</p>
<h2>4. Target industry and salary</h2>
<p>Let's face it: You are considering an MBA so you can increase your earning potential. Just keep in mind that your target salary goes hand in hand with your target industry. While an MBA can give your salary a boost, the actual pay bump varies per industry.</p>
<p>Using data from over 6,600 MBA alumni working in the U.S., MBA.com reports the average annual salary of a graduate in the technology industry and a graduate in the government/nonprofit industry at $135,000 and $95,000, respectively. The job level of the position also affects the salary of MBA alumni: In the finance/accounting sector, a graduate would earn an average $55,000 per year in an entry-level position and an average $165,000 in a senior-level position. Knowing your earning potential can provide you a better picture of the potential return on investment of an MBA.</p>
<h2>5. Job placement rate</h2>
<p>It's one thing to know your earning potential; it's another thing to actually land the job paying that target salary. Make sure to ask about the average period of unemployment after graduation for graduates of your target MBA programs, the job placement services available during and after the completion of your degree, and the list of companies actively recruiting interns and full-time hires from those schools. While no school can guarantee you 100 percent job placement after you complete your MBA, some schools do a better job than others at setting you up for success. Choose one that best suits the unique characteristics of your desired career path.</p>
<h2>6. Alternatives</h2>
<p>Some industries have different types of programs or certifications that are comparable &mdash; and sometimes more valuable &mdash; than an MBA. In the finance sector, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) credential is a recognized investment management designation valued by many employers. Other examples of self-study certifications coveted by employers are the Financial Risk Manager (FRM), General Securities Representative Exam (GSRE), Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA).</p>
<p>A professional designation is an alternative pathway to unlock career growth potential that may be similar to an MBA. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/7-certifications-that-add-big-to-your-salary?ref=seealso" target="_blank">7 Certifications That Add Big $$ to Your Salary</a>)</p>
<h2>7. Existing student loans</h2>
<p>It takes money to make money, but there's always a limit. A 2016 Poets&amp;Quants study showed that MBA graduates had six-figure student debt from at least 13 prominent business schools, up from only two schools in 2011. Even some public universities offering MBA programs have a high sticker price: Six of the 25 schools with the highest average loans were public.</p>
<p>Assuming a $100,000 student loan balance on a standard 10-year repayment plan with a 6.8 percent interest rate, you would pay an estimated $1,151 every month. If you already have a student loan balance, you should consider waiting until you reduce that financial burden before taking on additional student debt. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/these-17-companies-will-help-you-repay-your-student-loan?ref=seealso" target="_blank">These 17 Companies Will Help You Repay Your Student Loan</a>)</p>
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<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/damian-davila">Damian Davila</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/7-things-to-consider-before-paying-for-an-mba">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-1">
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</div> </div><br/></br>Education & Trainingbusiness schoolcareercontinuing educationexecutivesmaster's of business administrationMBAstudent loansMon, 22 Jan 2018 09:30:05 +0000Damian Davila2086755 at http://www.wisebread.com8 Tips for Going Back to School as an Adulthttp://www.wisebread.com/8-tips-for-going-back-to-school-as-an-adult
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<p>Whether you have never been to college, have some college credits from many years ago, or simply need to retool your education for a career change, there is much to be gained from going back to school. However, adult learners face a lot of risk factors that lead to dropping out before finishing a degree; things such as family obligations, financial shortcomings, and a tendency to attend school part time.</p>
<p>With college costs steadily growing, the stakes are high; attending school without finishing a degree program could mean dealing with a mountain of debt and no job to help pay it off. Before diving into a degree or certificate program, do your homework to give yourself the best chance of success as an adult learner.</p>
<h2>1. Choose a school that accommodates adult learners</h2>
<p>One challenge adult learners face is feeling like they don't fit in with the much younger students on campus. Some find that the counseling services the school offers do not make sense for their situation in life. To avoid this problem, seek out a school that actively recruits older students.</p>
<p>LendEdu ranks the <a href="https://lendedu.com/blog/colleges-for-adult-learners/" target="_blank">25 best colleges for adult learners</a>, taking into account factors such as on-campus child care, weekend classes and flexibility, and affordability. Its most recent list gives the top-ranking position to Delaware's Wilmington University, a private college that offers a wide range of professional certificate programs in addition to degrees.</p>
<h2>2. Consider credit transferability when choosing a school</h2>
<p>Another way the best schools accommodate nontraditional students is by accepting credits from other institutions. If you have earned prior credits from an educational institution, get an idea of how many would be accepted toward your new degree. Figure this out before enrolling, because the more credits that will transfer, the faster and cheaper your degree will be.</p>
<h2>3. Choose a major that will help you reach your goals</h2>
<p>Some 18-year-olds are OK with spending a couple of years in college finding themselves before focusing on a major that will lead to a specific career. Adults, not so much.</p>
<p>A recent report from the University of Texas showed that the choice of academic major was the biggest factor in determining how much graduates from UT earned. In fact, your major appears to matter more than how good a school you get into, the report says.</p>
<p>&quot;[G]raduates who majored in architecture and engineering at a UT System open-access college have median earnings that are higher than 61 percent of all UT System graduates at selective colleges,&quot; the report reads. After architecture and engineering, the highest earning major categories for UT students were computers, statistics, and mathematics; followed by health, then business. The lowest-earning majors were in the arts, psychology and social work, and biology and life sciences.</p>
<p>Of course, you can't just blindly choose a major based on how much money graduates make. It also has to be a good match for you. Take an online assessment or work with a career consultant to figure out what field best matches your strengths.</p>
<h2>4. Tap a range of funding sources</h2>
<p>Don't assume that because you're an adult, you won't qualify for aid. In fact, there is no age limit for receiving federal student aid in the form of grants, loans, and work-study programs. There are also scholarships for adult learners, such as the Jeannette Rankin Foundation Scholarship, reserved for students age 35 or older. If you are or have been in the military, there are a host of <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/military" target="_blank">student financial aid programs for veterans and military personnel</a>. Also, find out if your employer pays for continuing education; many workplaces will fund entire degrees for employees. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/these-17-companies-will-help-you-repay-your-student-loan?ref=seealso" target="_blank">These 17 Companies Will Help You Repay Your Student Loan</a>)</p>
<p>Once you have exhausted every avenue for funds you don't have to pay back, look into using your own assets for school as well. Although you should always proceed with caution when tapping into retirement accounts, it is possible in some circumstances to withdraw money from retirement accounts to pay educational expenses penalty free. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/yes-you-can-pay-for-education-with-an-ira?Ref=seealso" target="_blank">Yes, You Can Pay for Education With an IRA</a>)</p>
<h2>5. Investigate online or hybrid programs</h2>
<p>Going to school around a busy schedule of work and family makes online college a popular choice. You can often watch lectures on your own schedule and avoid wasting time traveling to and from a campus. You can try many online courses for free &mdash; usually without credit &mdash; to see if online learning works for you. Check the <a href="https://www.edx.org/" target="_blank">courses listed at edX</a>, for example.</p>
<p>A growing program type that appeals to many nontraditional students is the hybrid model, which combines online lectures with some classroom time for discussion. For instance, Northwestern University offers hybrid graduate programs aimed at professionals, which combines online lectures with a limited number of on-campus seminars.</p>
<h2>6. Take your exams early</h2>
<p>If you need to take the LSAT for law school, the GRE for graduate school, the GMAT for business school, or even the SAT, sit for it well in advance of school application deadlines. This takes a bit of the pressure off; when you know you have time to retake the test if necessary, you can relax and do your best.</p>
<h2>7. Make a plan to balance life, work, and school</h2>
<p>It could be that many adult learners end up dropping out because they mistakenly assumed they would somehow &quot;find time&quot; for coursework. Even if you start slow, going to school is like a part-time job, and you must allocate the hours to make it happen. Finding the hours might mean cutting back on work, eliminating a pleasurable activity such as watching TV, or dropping out of organized activities such as a sports team. One activity you cannot borrow hours from without negative consequences is sleep.</p>
<p>It's also important to make sure family members, friends, and even coworkers and bosses know and respect that you need time and space to complete your coursework. You may have to say no when someone asks you to work overtime or pass up on volunteering for organizations you may have helped in the past.</p>
<p>Research shows that when we work with interruptions, not only does it take time to get back on task, but we feel more stressed and frustrated. To avoid wanting to quit, it's important to carve out space for yourself to work uninterrupted. Build child care costs into your college budget if necessary, and make sure you have a quiet place to work away from the bustle of household life.</p>
<h2>8. Know the tax benefits</h2>
<p>Make sure you don't miss out on tax breaks available for returning students, such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit, and tax deductions on interest on student loans. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/dont-skip-these-8-tax-breaks-for-students?Ref=seealso" target="_blank">Don't Skip These 8 Tax Breaks for Students</a>)</p>
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<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/carrie-kirby">Carrie Kirby</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/8-tips-for-going-back-to-school-as-an-adult">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-8">
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</div> </div><br/></br>Career BuildingEducation & Trainingadult learnerscollegecontinuing educationcreditsmajorsonline coursesstudent aidtaxestuitionMon, 27 Nov 2017 09:30:10 +0000Carrie Kirby2057597 at http://www.wisebread.com12 Surprising Ways to Get More College Financial Aidhttp://www.wisebread.com/12-surprising-ways-to-get-more-college-financial-aid
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<p>The cost of college has risen so high that even middle and higher-income parents may qualify for some financial aid. Beyond how much money you earn, how a family structures college savings and general finances in the years leading up to and during college can have an impact on how much aid you're offered.</p>
<p>It wasn't always like this. Once upon a time, students could pay their tuition at a public university with the money they earned working during summer. Now, students would have to work full-time all year to pay the average public school tuition, which has skyrocketed to $10,000 for in-state students and $25,000 for out-of-state students for the 2016-2017 school year, according to the College Board. Private colleges and universities are charging an average of more than $33,000 per year. And don't forget, you still need to set aside money for room, board, books, and Albert Einstein posters.</p>
<p>All this means that most American families have a gap between what they can pay toward college and what college costs. Fortunately, a university's published &quot;sticker price&quot; is not what most families pay, especially for private colleges. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, even students with household incomes of $110,000 or more received an average of $15,240 in the 2013-14 school year to defray the cost of private nonprofit colleges, and $1,860 for public schools.</p>
<p>And that's just the federal grants, loans, and work study jobs. Many schools also offer institutional aid consisting of grants, scholarships, and loans. Some well-endowed schools even promise to cover the entire difference between the family's resources and the price (usually incorporating a combination of loans and other aid types). These financial aid packages can be so large that some families pay less for the most expensive colleges than they would have paid for their local state school.</p>
<p>How much aid a student is offered depends on a lot of things. Much of it has to do with how a family's finances are organized and how they fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from the year before their kid starts college. Let's look at strategies for students to maximize available college funds.</p>
<h2>1. Be strategic with college savings accounts</h2>
<p>First of all, parents should make <em>retirement </em>their top savings priority, not education, because you can get loans for education, but there are no loans to fund retirement.</p>
<p>&quot;It's just like being on an airplane: Help yourself first before assisting others,&quot; says Carol Stack, author of <a href="http://amzn.to/2vQaOq7" target="_blank">The Financial Aid Handbook: Getting the Education You Want for the Price You Can Afford</a><em>.</em></p>
<p>Second, parents should keep any money they do save in their own names, not in a joint account or a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) account in the student's name. Your assets count against you even more than your parents' assets do. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/why-saving-too-much-money-for-a-college-fund-is-a-bad-idea?ref=seealso" target="_blank">Why Saving Too Much Money for a College Fund Is a Bad Idea</a>)</p>
<p>For the same reason, grandparents or other well-wishers outside the immediate household should avoid directly giving students money for college. If your grandma wants to help with college, great! She should hold onto that money in her own account, not gift it to you. As long as it's in grandma's name, those assets don't get reported on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Some college-savvy financial planners even advise against taking out 529 accounts, those state plans that allow money to grow tax-free but can only be spent on qualified educational expenses, because 529s opened by parents will count on the FAFSA as parental assets and increase the expected family contribution (EFC). Gary Sipos, founder of College Cash Solutions, a for-profit company that offers advice on choosing a college and getting financial aid, always warns clients against them.</p>
<p>&quot;In no case in the decade or so I've been doing this, have I ever seen a case where a 529 plan was a good idea,&quot; Sipos says.</p>
<p>In Sipos' experience, even though these plans offer tax benefits, the harm to students' chances of getting financial aid can cost the family as much or more than they saved in taxes.</p>
<p>However, most college savings experts stand by 529 plans.</p>
<p>&quot;The 529 is probably going to be one of your best options,&quot; says Joseph Orsolini, a certified financial planner with Illinois' College Aid Planners.</p>
<p>If a grandparent wants to save for college in a 529 plan, they should open their own account, not contribute to one set up by the parents. This way, it's not counted as a parental or child asset. Even then, Orsolini warns, caution is needed to avoid having the account hurt the student's aid chances. If your grandma owns the plan and pays the first year tuition out of it, that payment is counted as your income, and could decrease the amount of aid you qualify for the next year.</p>
<p>&quot;You want to withdraw starting the second half of sophomore year,&quot; Orsolini advised. Because the FAFSA looks backward to past years' tax returns, at this point, you'll be in the clear and the student income from Grandma's 529 plan won't affect financial aid.</p>
<p>If you're a student who already has money in your own name, you might consider spending that on things you'll need for college &mdash; like test prep classes, or a new computer &mdash; before the period reported on the FAFSA. Once you start paying tuition, spend your own money before your parents spend any of theirs. If your parents want to pay your tuition, they can instead make up for it with a gift later or by helping you pay off any loans you take out.</p>
<h2>2. Fill out the FAFSA, even if you think your family makes too much money</h2>
<p>The FAFSA is the first step in getting need-based aid, and it's a pain in the butt to fill out. Among other things, it asks for tax returns, your household income, and assets. High income, say over $200,000 a year, lowers your odds of receiving grants and loans, so if your household falls in that category, you may think there's no point in going through the agony. <em>Fill it out anyway.</em></p>
<p>There are so many factors affecting whether you will get aid &mdash; like how many people are in your family and whether any of them will be in college at the same time as you &mdash; that you might qualify for at least subsidized loans, despite high income. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/the-10-most-common-financial-aid-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them?ref=seealso" target="_blank">The 10 Most Common Financial Aid Mistakes &mdash; And How To Avoid Them</a>)</p>
<h2>3. File early, and accurately</h2>
<p>The opening date for turning in the FAFSA has been moved up, and it's important to get that thing in within about a month of opening day. If you plan to start college in the fall of 2018, that means turning in the FAFSA starting Oct. 1, 2017.</p>
<p>Financial aid is first come, first served, Sipos explains. If you wait until spring, financial aid officers may be running low on funds to distribute. &quot;They might give you half the award they would have given you if you had applied a few months earlier,&quot; he says.</p>
<p>In addition, if your FAFSA has errors, it can get kicked back to you for corrections and then you have to go to the back of the line.</p>
<h2>4. Spend more time with your poorer parent</h2>
<p>If your parents are divorced and live separately, you only have to put the income and assets from <em>one </em>of those households on your FAFSA. So do you put down your mother's income or your father's income? The rules simply say that you submit the information about the <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info#who-is-parent" target="_blank">household you spent the most time in</a> during the preceding year &mdash; even if it was only one day more.</p>
<p>For example, say your parents are divorced and you split your time evenly between their houses. Your mother and her new husband make $300,000 a year and have a million bucks in the bank. Your father is on disability, and has no assets beyond his house and car. If you are presented as his child, your chances of getting financial aid are greater. While you're in high school, make sure you spend more than half the year living with your dad.</p>
<h2>5. If you work, watch your earnings</h2>
<p>If you, the high school or college student, earn more than $6,400 in a year, colleges will consider that as money you could be paying in tuition, and reduce need-based awards accordingly. Of course, most student jobs don't pay much, but even at minimum wage, working 20 hours a week all year would put you over the threshold. There are many reasons you may want to work, including wanting to be self-sufficient or gaining valuable job experience. Just remember that once you pass the $6,400 per year threshold, increased tuition costs may eat up 50 cents of every dollar you earn.</p>
<p>Instead of working more than 15 hours a week for pay during the last year of high school, when your income must be reported on the FAFSA for your first year of college, consider spending your time doing something that will boost your college application, from studying for the SAT or ACT to doing volunteer work.</p>
<p>This is also a warning to parents: Paying your kids a good salary to work for you might help you taxwise, but the penalty in the financial aid application could eclipse any tax savings.</p>
<h2>6. Don't dismiss more expensive colleges</h2>
<p>School aid offers can vary, based both on how much the school wants you and also how much the institution is. Once you have the financial aid promises in hand, you may be surprised at how much you're expected to pay differs from the sticker price.</p>
<p>&quot;[D]epending on a family's income and a college's available aid funds, the cost paid by the family for attending even the most expensive Ivy League schools may be less than the cost of attending an in-state public university,&quot; reads <a href="http://amzn.to/2vLp9Wj" target="_blank">Paying for College Without Going Broke</a> by Kalman Chany, a popular primer on navigating the financial aid process.</p>
<p>Don't make a final decision until you have all the aid letters in hand, because the sticker price is not an apples-to-apples comparison.</p>
<h2>7. Don't automatically choose the best college you got into</h2>
<p>Many schools reserve their best merit aid offers for the top 25 percent of applicants, based on test scores, Sipos explains. That means if you barely squeak into a great school, but would be one of the top students at a good school, you'll probably get a better aid offer from the good school. Sipos counsels families on this strategy when applying for colleges, using information schools publish about their students' median college entrance test scores.</p>
<h2>8. Look into whether you have to report your family's small business income</h2>
<p>Sipos used to be a general financial planner, but he was inspired to specialize in college financial planning when he met a couple who was drowning in debt despite having run a successful business for years. They'd sent three daughters to Ivy League schools, and because they earned a good income, and their business was worth a lot, they'd never bothered to fill out a FAFSA.</p>
<p>What the family didn't know was their business met the legal description of a <a href="http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/smallbusiness.phtml" target="_blank">small business that does not count</a> against students for financial aid purposes. Family farms fall into this category, as well. The family would have qualified for financial aid if they'd applied, Sipos says, leaving them ready to retire after their kids graduated, instead of running double time to dig out of debt.</p>
<p>&quot;They could have saved $30,000 a year if they had exempted their business. The financial aid officer didn't mention anything,&quot; he says.</p>
<h2>9. Put money into non-reportable assets</h2>
<p>If your parents have car loans, credit card debt, or a mortgage, it makes good sense to pay them off as much as possible, not only to reduce their debt but also to increase the amount of aid you might be eligible for. You have to report how much money and other liquid investments your family has on the FAFSA. That means your parents' bank accounts are considered money they could be putting toward your education. But the <a href="https://www.cappex.com/hq/articles-and-advice/financial-aid/fafsa/How-to-Shelter-Assets-on-the-FAFSA" target="_blank">value of your family's primary home</a> and personal possessions such as cars don't count against you in assessing your need. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/5-smart-places-to-stash-your-kids-college-savings?ref=seealso" target="_blank">5 Smart Places to Stash Your Kid's College Savings</a>)</p>
<h2>10. Make sure the school knows about all special circumstances</h2>
<p>Besides the volumes of information the FAFSA asks for, you can also include a letter explaining the family's circumstances &mdash; and in many cases, you should. For instance, if you have a disabled sibling who needs expensive care, or another challenging circumstance, let the school know so it can take that into account when calculating your family's ability to pay.</p>
<h2>11. Negotiate with the financial aid office</h2>
<p>When you get your aid letter, it's not necessarily a &quot;take it or leave it&quot; proposition. You can let the school know if other schools offered you a better deal, and urge them to take another look.</p>
<p>If you haven't already written a letter about special circumstances, now is the time to do that. Finally, if the year reported on the FAFSA was an unusually good year financially for your family &mdash; your mother got a huge bonus, for example, or your parents sold an investment property &mdash; you can provide previous and subsequent tax returns to support your case, Sipos advises.</p>
<h2>12. Join the military or a public service program</h2>
<p>Two members of my family became the first in their respective lines to go to college, thanks to the GI Bill, a program that helps service members and veterans cover education costs. That's just one of the college benefits available to veterans and service members. It's worth looking into.</p>
<p>Outside of the military, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, the Peace Corps, and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program are all avenues for paying off student loans or financing college.</p>
<p>Some people might look at the above tactics as gaming the system. It's certainly possible to pass beyond optimizing into the shady territory of trying to hide income and assets.</p>
<p>&quot;I lose my patience with people who are affluent &mdash; and they want to hide that affluence? Come on,&quot; Stack says.</p>
<p>While it's up to the individual to decide which legal financial aid optimization tactics are appropriate, reputable college financial planners see no problem in making a financial plan that maximizes the chance of getting aid.</p>
<p>&quot;You're just following the rules,&quot; Orsolini says<strong> &quot;</strong>It's no different from putting money in a 401(k) to minimize your tax burden.&quot;</p>
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<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/carrie-kirby">Carrie Kirby</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/12-surprising-ways-to-get-more-college-financial-aid">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-1">
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</div> </div><br/></br>BudgetingEducation & Trainingaffording collegecollegecollege expensescollege savingscontinuing educationsaving moneysaving money for collegeTue, 22 Aug 2017 08:30:10 +0000Carrie Kirby2007138 at http://www.wisebread.com9 Cheap Ways to Increase Your Knowledge and Earning Potentialhttp://www.wisebread.com/9-cheap-ways-to-increase-your-knowledge-and-earning-potential
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<p>The more knowledge you have, the more chances you will get to score different and better jobs. Knowledge is power, and with continuing education, power and ultimately, success, are yours for the taking. Here are nine free or inexpensive ways to learn more and increase your earning potential. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/15-free-ways-to-learn-something-new?ref=seealso">15 Free Ways to Learn Something New</a>)</p>
<h2>MOOCs and Academies</h2>
<p>Massively Open Online Courses are the inexpensive alternative to debt-creating colleges. An option for learning that &mdash; in my opinion &mdash; should have been there since the inception of the Internet. There are plenty to choose from, but these are your best places to start.</p>
<h3>1. Khan Academy</h3>
<p>&quot;Your brain is like a muscle,&quot; says <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a>. &quot;The more you use it and struggle, the more it grows.&quot; Here, you can grow your muscle with classes in math, science, economics and finance, and arts and humanities. For adults, this is a refresher. For kids, it's a prepper. The college admissions section offers information for high school students or graduates preparing for higher education. The site's content includes plenty of practice exercises, video lessons, and a personalized dashboard that helps you track your progress.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: Free</p>
<h3>2. Udemy</h3>
<p><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=g519OIyP0is&amp;offerid=323085.81&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0">Udemy</a> has an incredibly broad focus &mdash; the site's mission is to &quot;help anyone learn anything.&quot; Boasting over 35,000 MOOCs and over 8 million minutes of educational video content, it's something of an education supermarket. Web development? Check. Guitar? Check. Yoga? Check. You can download courses onto your device and view them offline, view them at your own pace, and take them in over 80 languages.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: $0-$24 (If it's not already free, first course is $24.)</p>
<h3>3. Coursera</h3>
<p>While Udemy's courses are created by individual instructors, <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=g519OIyP0is&amp;offerid=388822.5&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0">Coursera</a> partners with universities and organizations. Here's how Coursera works: You enroll in a course &mdash; anything from Arts and Humanities to Data Science to Social Sciences &mdash; choose the free option to access videos, discussions, practice assignments, and view-only graded assignments. Then choose to earn a course certificate, pay a fee, and get access to graded assignments. You need to submit the assignments to earn the certificate. Now, Coursera offers specializations in subjects ranging from business, tech, data, and general interest. You have to earn certificates to specialize.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: Free</p>
<p><strong>Cost for certificate</strong>: $30-$100</p>
<h3>4. Udacity</h3>
<p>Founded by former VP of Google Simon Thrun, <a href="https://www.udacity.com/">Udacity</a> was the first MOOC. According to Udacity, &quot;Education is no longer a one-time event, but a lifelong experience.&quot; The site's course emphasis is on tech, science, and math. Google, Facebook, and AT&amp;T are just some of the companies who have developed courses for Udacity. Learn how to develop your own app, or learn about robotics. You can take free courses, or opt to pay for a &quot;nanodegree.&quot; Now, Udacity is offering to refund half the cost of the nanodegree if you graduate within 12 months. They also guarantee you'll get a job.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: Free</p>
<p><strong>Cost for nanodegree</strong>: $200/month</p>
<h3>5. EdX</h3>
<p>EdX offers courses ranging from computer science, languages, engineering, psychology, writing, electronics, biology, all the way to marketing. The only non-profit, open source MOOC platform, EdX was founded in 2012 by Harvard and MIT. <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/10/2/edx-id-verified-certificates/">In 2013</a>, EdX debuted its three-tiered certification system. You can take any course for free as an audit, choose to earn a certificate based on performance, or pay and earn an &quot;ID-verified&quot; certificate &mdash; a credit for doing well and being who you say you are. You can also choose to pay more than the required price for certification in case you're feeling generous. Some courses may not have the verified certificate option.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: Free</p>
<p><strong>Cost for ID-verified certificate:</strong> Varies per course</p>
<h3>6. FutureLearn</h3>
<p>Owned by the UK's massive The Open University (one of only three foreign universities accredited in America), <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/">FutureLearn</a> partners with 82 organizations worldwide. This global emphasis means a different perspective than US-based MOOCs (but as an editorial note, American universities take pride in their borderless perspectives).</p>
<p>Future Learn is onboard with the rest in charging for certification, which they call a &quot;Statement of Participation.&quot; Like EdX, Coursera, and Udemy, you merely have to ask yourself what you want to learn. Chances are Future Learn's got it. As a side note, now you can take a course from Sheffield University on &quot;How to Write Your First Song.&quot; No guarantees you'll be able to write more.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: Free</p>
<p><strong>Cost for Statement of Participation</strong>: Varies per course</p>
<h2>Specializations</h2>
<p>Simply put, if you know what you want to learn, MOOCs aren't your only option. And diversity in sources for education is important. Here are three online courses in some of the most money-relevant modern subjects. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/3-ways-to-get-a-legit-business-education-online?ref=seealso">3 Ways to Get a Legit Business Education Online</a>)</p>
<h3>7. Excel University</h3>
<p>No wonder being an accountant is certain to fetch you a reliable income. Accountants can use <a href="http://store.excel-university.com/">Excel University</a> to learn shortcuts and tricks and continue their required professional education. But the program is more than an accounting tool. It's in offices everywhere. If you want to learn how to use the ubiquitous Excel program more efficiently and proficiently, you can take the &quot;lite&quot; version of Excel University's course. Also, the site provides a free evaluation course, so you can sample before you buy.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: $0-$499.00</p>
<h3>8. American Graphics Institute UX Training</h3>
<p>Learning website and app design will make you indispensable in today's connected world. <a href="https://www.agitraining.com/ux/classes">AGI's User Experience Design Training</a> lets you ask your teacher a question in real-time and receive the answer as soon as they know it. The instructors are the articulate, knowledgeable authors of the <em>Dummies</em> and <em>Digital Classroom</em> books. AGI puts a premium on usability. You can request a headset to communicate with your instructor, or simply use your computer's microphone. Just be aware that this course is not self-paced.</p>
<p><strong>Cost: $495.00-$795.00, depending on course </strong></p>
<h3>9. Edureka Big Data and Hadoop</h3>
<p>Edureka is an alternative learning program offering a course in the field of big data. Specifically, this course will enable you to use <a href="https://www.appnovation.com/blog/hadoop-kids-cartoon">Hadoop</a>. Hadoop is an open source software project that lets you sort through and use the reams of data we generate on the web.</p>
<p>For example, Facebook uses Hadoop to process user information and pinpoint how to improve algorithms. Credit card companies use it to identify and prevent fraud. Big Data and Hadoop are virtually everywhere in tech-savvy business, and data scientists are in high demand. Through Edureka's online program, you'll begin to get a handle on this huge field through live, interactive courses with 24/7 support.</p>
<p><strong>Cost</strong>: $389</p>
<p><em>Any other frugal online tools that provide additional education? Share with us in the comments!</em></p>
<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/daniel-matthews">Daniel Matthews</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/9-cheap-ways-to-increase-your-knowledge-and-earning-potential">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-2">
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</div> </div><br/></br>Education & TrainingExtra Incomecontinuing educationfree classesfree online classeslow cost classesonline toolsskillsMon, 18 Apr 2016 09:00:10 +0000Daniel Matthews1691406 at http://www.wisebread.com8 Cheap Ways to Continue Your Education Without Going Back to Schoolhttp://www.wisebread.com/8-cheap-ways-to-continue-your-education-without-going-back-to-school
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<p>Guess what costs $29,400?</p>
<p>Nope, it is the not the price of the latest sedan model. As hard it may to be believe it, this is the <a href="http://ticas.org/content/pub/student-debt-and-class-2012">average student debt</a> for American college graduates in 2012. That number has gone up 63% in less than a decade, and it's likely to increase. With the ever-rising costs of education, you may think that you are out of options to keep on learning or improving your skills. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/13-easy-ways-to-improve-your-brain?ref=seealso">13 Easy Ways to Improve Your Brain</a>)</p>
<p>But there's some good news. You don't have to give up on continuing your education &mdash; you just need to find some affordable alternates. Here are eight cheap ways to keep on learning and improving your skills.</p>
<h2>Learn a Foreign Language</h2>
<p>Learning to speak a second language may provide financial rewards and <a href="http://www.livescience.com/41002-worried-about-dementia-learn-a-second-language.html">health benefits</a>, so it is a worthwhile investment. Here is how to do it on the cheap, while still reaping the benefits.</p>
<h3>1. Listen to Music and Watch Films</h3>
<p>If you already subscribe to music or movie streaming services, use them to improve your language skills. If you have a Spotify Premium account and want to improve your Italian, for example, head to <a href="http://charts.spotify.com">Spotify Charts</a>, filter the by country, find the most listened-to Italian artists, and build your &quot;Italian Lesson&quot; playlist. The same basic concept can be applied to other services, such as Netflix, Hulu, or Rdio. <em>Va bene?</em></p>
<h3>2. Tag Things Around Your Home in the Target Language</h3>
<p>Try this at home. Use the <a href="http://translate.google.com">free translation service from Google</a> to translate items in your home to the language you would like to learn. Then, tag those items by using Post-it notes or small pieces of paper and adhesive tape. This way you can remember that in German door is <em>tür</em> and mirror is <em>spiegel</em>. Bonus: After having memorized the words, you can double check your pronunciation with Google Translate's &quot;Listen&quot; button.</p>
<h3>3. Read What the Locals Read</h3>
<p>Have you noticed how on international flights flight attendants often provide you the local newspaper from your final destination? This allows you to catch up on the current local issues and news. Take this learning tip without the international flight cost by reading the online version of local newspapers. Head to <a href="http://www.onlinenewspapers.com">Online Newspapers</a>, find countries that speak your target language, and start reading what the locals read. You can brush up on your French by reading <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr">Le Monde</a>, one of Paris' most read newspapers, from the comfort of your home. If you get stuck on a word or sentence, Google Translate can lend you a hand.</p>
<h2>Use MOOCs</h2>
<p>Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, are revolutionizing education by making previously unaccessible courses available to the masses. Often, they're doing this for free.</p>
<h3>4. Become Part of the Ivy League</h3>
<p>You too can say &quot;I went to Harvard&quot; by attending one of <a href="http://www.extension.harvard.edu/open-learning-initiative">Harvard's free online courses</a>. Here is a sample list of other institutions of higher education offering free MOOCs:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://oli.cmu.edu">Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative</a> &mdash; If you would like to start learning French from scratch and for free, take their <a href="http://oli.cmu.edu/courses/free-open/french-i-course-details/">Elementary French I</a> and <a href="http://oli.cmu.edu/courses/free-open/french-ii-course-details/">Elementary French II</a> courses for over 30-weeks worth of media-rich lessons.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://itunes.duke.edu">Duke iTunes U</a> &mdash; Get access to high profile corporate leaders and their insights into current business and corporate strategies through the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/fuqua-distinguished-speaker/id476365200">Distinguished Speaker Series</a> from Duke's Fuqua School of Business.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm">MIT OpenCourseWare</a> &mdash; A skill that is in high demand is the ability to make science content accessible to general readers. Learn the craft of <a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/writing-and-humanistic-studies/21w-035-science-writing-and-new-media-elements-of-science-writing-for-the-public-spring-2013/">science writing for the general public</a>, which may help you at your current job or land you a part-time writing gig.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://oyc.yale.edu">Open Yale Courses</a> &mdash; If you need insightful remarks from top-notch researchers on key periods of history, Yale offers some great free options, such as <a href="http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-116">The American Revolution</a>, <a href="http://oyc.yale.edu/history-art/hsar-252" style="text-decoration:none;">Roman Architecture</a>, and <a href="http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-210">The Early Middle Ages</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://see.stanford.edu/see/courses.aspx">Stanford Engineering Courses</a> &mdash; By far the most popular course from Stanford's free offerings is <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/iphone-application-development/id384233225">iPhone Application Development</a>, a 20-lesson series that is rated 5 stars by iTunes users.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://webcast.berkeley.edu">UC Berkeley Courses</a> &mdash; If you need a physics refresher to prep for a standardized test, check out <a href="http://webcast.berkeley.edu/playlist#c,s,All,-XXv-cvA_iAKxxGD1tIWLS0DcieGLHh0">Descriptive Introduction to Physics</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/physics-8b-002-spring-2014/id804555512?mt=10">Physics 8B</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>You can find even more online university courses through course aggregators, such as <a href="http://www.academicearth.org">Academic Earth</a>, <a href="http://www.ed2go.com">ed2go</a>, <a href="http://www.coursera.org">Coursera</a>, <a href="http://www.edx.org">edX</a>, and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/itunes-u/id40000000">iTunes U</a>.</p>
<h3>5. Learn at Your Own Pace With Khan Academy</h3>
<p>If you think that attending free MIT courses is impressive, then you would be even more impressed by the Khan Academy. To put things in perspective, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy/about">Khan Academy's YouTube Channel</a> has over 1.7 million subscribers and 393 million views, while MIT's OpenCourseWare YouTube Channel only about 507,000 subscribers and 65 million views. What makes the Khan Academy so engaging is the vision from founder Sal Khan, the backing from major organizations (such as Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation and Google), and the free admission to all learners around the world. You can learn almost anything for free, and at your own pace, through videos at Khan Academy.</p>
<h3>6. Go Beyond Universities</h3>
<p>As Khan Academy shows, you may need to think beyond household names when searching for MOOCs. Some of the best online courses are not necessarily from well-known universities.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.udemy.com">Udemy</a> &mdash; Offers a wide of variety courses, mostly in practical subjects. For example, you can find several <a href="https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=excel&amp;price=paid&amp;view=grid">tutorials on Excel</a> and on <a href="https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=powerpoint">Powerpoint</a>. You can find free courses and, if you opt for paid ones, you can filter them by the number of reviews they have received.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.lynda.com">Lynda.com</a> &mdash; With just a $25 monthly payment, you can have unlimited access to several thousand video courses in software, creative, and business skills at Lynda.com.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.udacity.com">Udacity</a> &mdash; What started as a series of free computer computer classes at Stanford University has turned into a whole organization offering courses from experts working at companies, such as Google, Facebook, and Cloudera. There are both free and paid versions of courses.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.ted.com">TED Talks</a> &mdash; With over 1,700 talks ranging from what we can learn from the pursuit of <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce">perfect spaghetti sauce</a> to <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_ronson_how_sampling_transformed_music">how sampling transformed music</a>, TED Talks dazzle with amazing presentations by experts from around the world.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>Look for Financial Support</h2>
<p>While you may think that you are fully on your own to finance your education, the truth is that there are a couple of organizations that may provide you financial or other support. The key is that you have to ask for it.</p>
<h3>7. Talk to Your Human Resources Department</h3>
<p>Your HR department may provide information about deals that your company has for continuing education. This is often true for large organizations. Your employer may be willing even to pay for your classes, as long as they relate to your job, and you can commit to stay at the company for a minimum period of time. For example, if you have several years of practical project management experience but still no degree, your supervisor could build a strong case to sponsor your PMP certification.</p>
<p>It doesn't hurt to check out your company's HR handbook and see if they provide discounted prices or stipends for additional training or professional certification.</p>
<h3>8. Contact Professional Associations</h3>
<p>The mission of professional organizations is to support their professions. One of the key ways that they achieve this is by offering educational and development opportunities to their members. If you already belong to a professional association, contact its local chapter to find out about its educational offerings.</p>
<p>For example, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) provides architects a wide gamut of training opportunities, most of them free to its members. If you have a membership with the AIA, you can attend several courses in your city or through the Internet, often at no cost.</p>
<p>From the Society of Petroleum Engineers to the International Association for Contract &amp; Commercial Management there is one organization out there that could be waiting for you to knock on their door.</p>
<p><em>Despite the rising cost education, it is possible to continue your education. Which of these eight cheap ways are you planning to use?</em></p>
<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/damian-davila">Damian Davila</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/8-cheap-ways-to-continue-your-education-without-going-back-to-school">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-3">
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</div> </div><br/></br>Life Hacksaffordable learningcontinuing educationeducationWed, 28 May 2014 08:00:21 +0000Damian Davila1140740 at http://www.wisebread.comHow to Make a Major Career Switch Without Going Back to Schoolhttp://www.wisebread.com/how-to-make-a-major-career-switch-without-going-back-to-school
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<p>Recurring layoffs at your workplace, unwelcome developments in your chosen profession, or other life events may prompt career-oriented soul searching. A natural response is to return to school for retraining in order to launch a second career.</p>
<p>But you don't have to go back to school in order to make a major career change. I have worked with people who have altered the course of their careers without the benefit of an extra degree or even specialized training. They were able to trade their experiences, knowledge, and expertise in one field for an equal or better position in another area. Here are some techniques that worked for them. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/25-career-changes-you-can-make-today">25 Career Changes&nbsp;You&nbsp;Can Make Today</a>)</p>
<h3>Never Tell a Potential Employer That You Are Changing Careers</h3>
<p>When you realize that your education, experience, and expertise is in a dying field or one that no longer holds your interest, your instincts may direct you to tell a potential employer that you want to change careers.</p>
<p>What you may be trying to convey is you realize opportunities in your current field are limited or non-existent in a variety of ways. What the employer hears is that you have little to offer except for a willingness to try something new at someone else&rsquo;s expense.</p>
<p>This same employer, however, may welcome your aspirations if they are presented in a different way. Instead of focusing on what you expect to gain, you should highlight what you have to offer.</p>
<p>Learn about potential employers and their opportunities through research and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/the-informational-interview-what-not-to-say-and-more" target="_blank">informational interviews</a>. Using this inside knowledge, describe how your professional approach is an excellent cultural fit for the company and how your capabilities match specific accountabilities of job openings.</p>
<h3>Use the Skills You Already Have</h3>
<p>To land a job in an unrelated field, use the skills you have now. But don&rsquo;t recite them verbatim from your current job description. Instead, think deeply about what you really do and how you accomplish objectives.</p>
<p>For example, if you are in charge of month-end and year-end statements, don&rsquo;t just talk about processing debits and credits, handling account reconciliations, and publishing financial reports. Instead, explain how you develop and nurture relationships with departmental managers on whom you rely to get information on a timely basis. Talk about the visual timelines you created to promote schedule compliance. Share how you trained your direct reports to serve as financial guides to peers in field operations.</p>
<p>A hiring manager may not need an accountant. But she may need someone who can manage relationships, design work processes that relate financial data to operations, or develop people to interact effectively with those in other professional disciplines.</p>
<h3>Reframe Your Resume</h3>
<p>Resumes are often designed and written to appeal to a hiring manager in a candidate&rsquo;s current field or industry. They are filled with industry lingo and corporate buzzwords, reference accomplishments that don&rsquo;t make sense to outsiders, and contain attempts to highlight generalized capabilities, such as communication and leadership skills.</p>
<p>To transition to a new career, you&rsquo;ll need to think about your past differently. When writing the resume, discuss accountabilities and accomplishments in a way that doesn&rsquo;t assume specialized knowledge on the part of the reader. Explain the context for those unfamiliar with the inner workings of your field or industry. Present <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/awesome-accomplishments-50-questions-to-ask-yourself-and-figure-out-what-youve-done" target="_blank">accomplishments</a>, but also provide insight into your thought processes and actions that generated results.</p>
<p>Hiring managers want to know what you&rsquo;ve done in the past, but they also need to know how your work will benefit them in the future. The right kind of reframing reveals both. (For guidance in portraying your past in honest yet illuminating ways, see these examples of showcasing <a href="http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/resume-writing-tips/change-careers-transferable-skills/article.aspx" target="_blank">transferable skills</a> and <a href="http://write-solution.com/2013/01/10/companies-hire-skill-sets-not-job-titles/" target="_blank">experiences</a>.)</p>
<h3>Leverage Industry Knowledge</h3>
<p>Your knowledge may be valuable to companies that seem to operate in completely different fields than your own. Such businesses may serve an industry in a way that is not apparent to the casual observer or have plans to reach a new market segment.</p>
<p>For example, a consumer products manufacturer may want to embed its products in the construction industry supply chain. Its current slate of employees, though, are experts in retail merchandising. They know little about capturing sales from companies engaged in construction. Your knowledge of a seemingly unrelated industry may be a boon to this potential employer.</p>
<p>Don't dismiss your industry know-how as irrelevant to outsiders. Learn about an organization's plans first. Then, identify and articulate how your expertise could be instrumental in helping the business reach its goals.</p>
<h3>Apply at Fast-Growing Companies</h3>
<p>Fast-growing companies often have difficulty attracting and keeping a full roster of capable employees. While some of these organizations may need people with narrowly defined, highly technical skills, many are simply looking for smart, motivated people.</p>
<p>These employers are often more apt to hire someone who is comfortable with ever-evolving responsibilities, frequently changing organizational structures, and increasingly competitive environments, despite lack of experience in a particular field. If you enjoy change and challenges, then search for opportunities with growing organizations.</p>
<h3>Enter a Management Training Program</h3>
<p>Getting educated by a new employer in a management training program is similar to going back to school. However, in this scenario, you&rsquo;ll get paid while learning, plus have a job when the program ends.</p>
<p>Even mid-careerists may find that a training program can launch them successfully into a new career. Sure, trainee pay may be lower than you&rsquo;d like. But program graduates with significant real world experience are attractive to hiring managers within the company.</p>
<p>In the right environment, you may be able to land a position that offers fast upward mobility. The combination of your newly acquired knowledge and longstanding workplace wisdom should enable you to deliver strong performance that will get you noticed and moved quickly to the next level.</p>
<h3>Leverage Your Contacts</h3>
<p>Your <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/your-31-hidden-networks-that-can-help-you-land-jobs">professional network</a> and industry contacts may help connect you to a new career.</p>
<p>Now, I am not suggesting that you beg friends to recommend you for a job that&rsquo;s out of your league, reach out to acquaintances to generate sales for a business startup, or ask colleagues to end long-term relationships to begin doing business with the new firm you&rsquo;ve joined. But I am saying that specific relationships may allow you to bring value to a company in a different field than your current one.</p>
<p>For example, if your clients have the need for certain goods or services outside of your field, then a potential employer that distributes these solutions may bring you on board to connect with them. Similarly, contacts in a hard-to-reach demographic, such as high-income professionals or busy institutional administrators, can give you an edge if a prospective employer wants to market to them or those like them.</p>
<h3>Find Companies That Hire People With Backgrounds Similar to Yours</h3>
<p>Managers often use a <a href="http://stonewoodgroup.com/perspective/article.go?cid=261&amp;article_id=148" target="_blank">gut feel</a> when making hiring decisions. Consciously or not, they notice a link between successful hires and employment candidates with particular backgrounds (such as experience with a certain company, a degree from a specific college or university). As a result, they favor candidates who have qualifications seemingly unrelated to the job description or industry at hand.</p>
<p>Keep up with the <a href="http://blog.linkedin.com/2012/05/10/how-to-make-a-career-switch/" target="_blank">career paths of your former classmates and colleagues</a>. Detect hiring patterns, note the companies that seem to have an interest in people with backgrounds similar to yours, and determine what the hiring organizations found attractive about your connections. Apply for positions with these companies or similar ones.</p>
<h3>Learn as Much as You Can</h3>
<p>Just because you don&rsquo;t have to go back to school to change careers doesn&rsquo;t mean that you don&rsquo;t have to learn anything new. Your professional experience, industry knowledge, and educational credentials may land you a job in a new field, but you can&rsquo;t count on your past alone to propel you to a successful future.&nbsp;Applying expertise in a new professional discipline or industry requires effort and creativity. To learn on the job and thrive in your new position, take these steps:</p>
<ul>
<li>Arrange meetings with colleagues to learn about the company and its functional groups.<br />
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Develop resources for domain knowledge, market insights, and tips for navigating the organization (and offer yourself as a resource to others).<br />
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Enroll in classes offered and/or paid for by your employer.<br />
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Take opportunities to visit clients and field operations.<br />
&nbsp;</li>
<li>Go to professional events, both locally and nationally, to get up to speed on industry norms and trends.</li>
</ul>
<p>Many people are surprised at how the skills they have honed in one setting are applicable to new environments. They often enjoy great success because the change has afforded them newfound perspective.</p>
<p><em>Have you changed careers without going back to school? Tell us how you landed a new job and made this transition.</em></p>
<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/julie-rains">Julie Rains</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-make-a-major-career-switch-without-going-back-to-school">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-4">
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</div> </div><br/></br>Career and Incomechanging jobscontinuing educationjob trainingWed, 13 Feb 2013 11:24:33 +0000Julie Rains967659 at http://www.wisebread.com10 Classes That Can Pay for Themselveshttp://www.wisebread.com/10-classes-that-can-pay-for-themselves
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<p>Classes already help you grow as a person, but a lot of classes offer more than knowledge &mdash; they offer a way to make money in the long run, whether it be through resume-building skills or honing a particular crafty talent. Below is a list of 10 classes that can pay for themselves. But remember &mdash; you only get out of a class what you put into it, so expect to do a little grunt work. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/10-awesome-money-making-hobbies">10 Awesome Money-Making Hobbies</a>)</p>
<h3>1. Business Class</h3>
<p>Small business incubators are popping up in cities across the country. Most are non-profits, there to help wannabe entrepreneurs figure out what they need to make their business idea work. Others are offered by a city or town, there to help the community grow. I&rsquo;m currently taking a collaborative business class from <a href="http://www.launchchattanooga.org/">Launch Chattanooga</a>. Learning how to market my ideas and budget my money and time, as well as meeting my fellow community members, has already made the class well worth it.</p>
<h3>2. Language Class</h3>
<p>The ultimate benefit? Understanding half the people around you. Living in New York, I heard languages from all around the world, but I could never understand a word they said. While learning a language isn&rsquo;t easy, it&rsquo;s rewarding, and learning in a class environment gives you a chance to practice. Try to pick a language that could help you professionally. Do your research &mdash; if there is an international company in town, there are likely bilingual jobs available.</p>
<h3>3. Cooking Class</h3>
<p>If you&rsquo;re in a relationship, this is a great date option. Not only do you get to hone your cooking skills, but you also get a chance to eat a meal prepared together. And of course, <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/20-great-once-a-month-cooking-recipes">eating in is usually cheaper than dining out</a>.</p>
<h3>4. Exercise Class</h3>
<p>The obvious advantages of an exercise class are a slimmer tummy, tighter muscles, etc., but an exercise class can also give you confidence in yourself. And classes are far better than DVDs, especially when it comes to <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/where-to-find-free-or-cheap-yoga-classes">complicated yoga moves</a>. Additionally, doing a class with others gives you an opportunity to network and create lasting friendships. I have a ton of friends who have done <a href="http://www.crossfit.com/">CrossFit</a>, and they hang out with their fellow class members on a regular basis.</p>
<h3>5. Certification Class</h3>
<p>From CPR to computer skills, a certification can go a long way on a resume. If anything, it shows that you&rsquo;re a fast learner (especially since a lot of those classes move quickly), have the wherewithal to accomplish personal goals and tasks, and, especially in the case of computer certifications, can use a variety of programs. And who knows, maybe one day <a href="http://www.good.is/post/is-the-certificate-the-new-college-degree/">certificate programs will replace college degrees</a>.</p>
<h3>6. Writing Class</h3>
<p>When I was considering a major for college, all advisors told me the same thing &mdash; my major didn&rsquo;t matter as long as I learned how to communicate. They were right. The more I move through society and consider a &ldquo;career,&rdquo; the only thing that matters is the fact that I can communicate well. Since college, I&rsquo;ve taken a writing class, and it not only gave me a renewed sense of purpose for my writing career, but also helped me develop my communication skills just a little more. These classes help you express yourself, and when it comes down to it, expressing yourself is one of the most important things to know how to do.</p>
<h3>7. Photography Class</h3>
<p>While you might think that stunning picture that you took of a mountain proves you have skills, unfortunately, it&rsquo;s probably just your camera and its nifty automatic settings. Why not take a class and learn how to use that camera at night (something I struggle with &mdash; everything always comes out so blurry) and what terms like aperture mean? You&rsquo;ll walk away with an appreciation of all things beautiful and probably some original pictures of family and friends.</p>
<h3>8. Improv Class</h3>
<p>Improv classes are the perfect way to open up and become more personable in everyday situations. I&rsquo;ve seen it with my own eyes &mdash; people who are naturally shy slowly come alive through improvisation. Improv also generally has a fantastic, supportive community. While some might be doing it to get ahead, most are just having fun. By the end of a few classes, you&rsquo;ll be more able to talk to strangers, network at work functions and, most importantly, laugh.</p>
<h3>9. Craft Class</h3>
<p>What you get out of this is a craft (duh). And crafting skills. And craftiness. Okay, maybe not the last one, but you will walk away from this class with a tangible product, whether it be pottery or painting or sewing. There are a lot of painting and drinking classes nowadays too, which is perfect for a grown-up birthday party.</p>
<h3>10. Resume Writing Class</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-write-a-resume-12-steps-to-your-next-job">Writing a resume</a> is, in my opinion, one of the most important skills a person can possess. You may have worked your butt off at a job and know everything there is to know, but if you don&rsquo;t know how to express it on a resume, you&rsquo;ll never get called for an interview. I used to suffer from this problem, unfortunately. I ended up using my friend&rsquo;s knowledge of &ldquo;good&rdquo; resumes, and once she fixed mine up, I got calls non-stop. If you know you can do the job, you should get the job &mdash; don&rsquo;t sell yourself short on your resume.</p>
<p><em>What are some classes you&rsquo;ve reaped more than just knowledge from?</em></p>
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<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/jennifer-holder">Jennifer Holder</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/10-classes-that-can-pay-for-themselves">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-5">
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</div> </div><br/></br>Education & TrainingPersonal Developmentclassescontinuing educationhobby businessresume writingWed, 13 Jun 2012 10:24:15 +0000Jennifer Holder935067 at http://www.wisebread.com6 Ways to Get Paid to Learnhttp://www.wisebread.com/6-ways-to-get-paid-to-learn
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<p>Getting paid to learn is a good way to keep your career skills sharp, and it may be the key to keeping your competitive edge in the future.</p>
<p>Penelope Trunk earns her living by keeping her finger on the pulse of the workplace, and not long ago she let slip the secret to competing with up and coming Generation Z &mdash; <a href="http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2011/07/12/how-to-compete-with-generation-z/">lifelong learning</a>. Trunk's advice is to start focusing on your own lifelong learning now, so you won&rsquo;t be stuck leaning on your cane when Gen-Z bursts through the office doors.</p>
<p>But with a busy job and life&rsquo;s obligations, how do you find time to be continually learning? The good news is you don&rsquo;t have to go back to school or take classes to expand your skill set. Here are six things you can do to constantly be learning new skills while you make money. (See also: <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/5-ways-to-learn-a-language">5 Ways to Learn a Language</a>)</p>
<h2>1. Write Articles</h2>
<p>When you write how-to or news articles, you learn a lot about the topic you&rsquo;re covering. Regardless of how much you knew before you wrote the article, chances are you&rsquo;ll learn something as you research your topic.</p>
<p>It used to be that you had to get a Journalism degree and go work for a newspaper to get paid for writing. You still have to show you can write thoughtful and well-researched articles in order to get paid to write. If you can prove this, then there are many opportunities to learn new things as write about them. I know many people who earn a part-time or even full-time living from freelancing or self-publishing their own articles.</p>
<h2>2. Teach Your Own Course</h2>
<p>Modern technology has made it possible for you to create and deliver your own course digitally. If you&rsquo;ve ever prepared a lesson or an entire course, you know that there&rsquo;s a tremendous amount of learning that goes into the process.</p>
<p>Your goal as a teacher is to distill as much relevant information about the topic as you can into a concise and easily understandable package. You learn an amazing amount through your preparation &mdash; it&rsquo;s true that the best way to learn a subject is to teach it.</p>
<p>You may not be able to convince anyone to pay for the first course you offer. However, if your material is good, then offering a few free courses can generate interest in a course people are willing to pay you for.</p>
<h2>3. Write a Book</h2>
<p>I&rsquo;ve never written a book myself, but I know many people who have. Although you may start the process thinking that you&rsquo;ll simply brain dump onto the pages of the book, you&rsquo;ll probably discover that there&rsquo;s some learning you need to do in order to do your subject justice.</p>
<p>Unless you&rsquo;re a well-known expert, no one will pay you up front to write a book. However, the barriers of trading your knowledge and expertise for dollars have been greatly reduced. It used to be that you had to find a publisher to get a book out for sale. Now the ability to self-publish gives people like <a href="http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/books/">Mike Piper</a> the ability to write, publish, and sell his own books on the topics of investing, accounting, retirement, and taxes.</p>
<h2>4. Work in R&amp;D</h2>
<p>Constantly learning new technologies and coming up with ways to apply them is the role of research and development in many companies. Working in a R&amp;D group myself, I can say that I&rsquo;ve been paid to learn multiple new programming languages and web technologies. The R&amp;D job is the best one I&rsquo;ve ever had &mdash; I&rsquo;m always learning something new, and I get a paycheck for it every two weeks! As an added bonus, if (when) I lose my job someday, I&rsquo;ll have lots of marketable skills in my industry.</p>
<h2>5. Be a Consultant</h2>
<p>A relative of mine is one of the owners of a <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/tips-for-joining-an-excellent-startup-company">startup company</a>, and they hire consultants to fill specialized roles. They don&rsquo;t need a full-time employee for certain positions, but they do need the input of someone who&rsquo;s an expert in the area.</p>
<p>Constant learning is a big part of being a consultant, because the people who hire you expect that you&rsquo;re up on the latest trends and technologies. Consulting gigs won&rsquo;t just fall into your lap, but if establish your expertise (through publishing articles and books or via networking), you can be well-paid to learn new skills.</p>
<h2>6. Become a Professor</h2>
<p>You don&rsquo;t necessarily have to earn a PhD to teach at a University. There are <a href="http://moneysmartlife.com/online-masters-degrees-career/">graduate schools</a> like Keller Graduate School and the University of Phoenix that hire people from inside the industry to teach their classes. Check out all the degrees and courses these schools offer on their websites; if you work in one of those industries and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/3-ways-a-masters-degree-can-boost-your-career">have a Masters degree</a>, you may qualify.</p>
<p>One of my former co-workers didn&rsquo;t have a Masters in Project Management, but he did hold the industry standard certification, the PMP certificate from the Project Management Institute. He was hired as an instructor at Keller, and when the new PMP test came out, he was paid to learn all the new requirements so he could teach them in his courses.</p>
<p>Not all of the methods I&rsquo;ve covered provide full-time salaries. In fact, most don&rsquo;t. However, they don&rsquo;t take up all your time either. You can spend 10&ndash;15 hours a week on any of these and get paid to learn.</p>
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<br /><div id="custom_wisebread_footer"><div id="rss_tagline">This article is from <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/ben-edwards">Ben Edwards</a> of <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/6-ways-to-get-paid-to-learn">Wise Bread</a>, an award-winning personal finance and <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/credit-cards">credit card comparison</a> website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:</div><div class="view view-similarterms view-id-similarterms view-display-id-block_2 view-dom-id-6">
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</div> </div><br/></br>Education & TrainingExtra Incomecontinuing educationFreelance writingteachingMon, 03 Oct 2011 10:36:23 +0000Ben Edwards723187 at http://www.wisebread.com